The redder, the better

My collection of red lipsticks is getting ridiculous. 50% of my lipsticks are red, and I always find a new addition to that growing list. This time, my newest buy is All Fired Up by MAC.

Although it's a beautiful darker shade than it's sister Relentlessly Red, I can't recommend you guys to buy both. Here they are in comparison to Ruby Woo. All Fired Up is a pinker red and more muted than Relentlessly Red, but if you guys are like me and don't usually have the money to spend on every single MAC lipstick shade (Oh, I wish!), you will barely be able to tell the difference.

Both are coral-y shades of red, but Relentlessly Red is the kind of shade you wear in summer (it is a tad brighter), whilst All Fired Up can also be worn in winter or used as a pink stain without a problem.

Which one would you pick? Do you have any of these lipstick shades?

<3

M.

My latest beauty picks. (preview)

Hello everyone! 

I know lately I've been giving the "go natural" speech too often, and this is a makeup blog, right? RIGHT! So I decided to do a sort of mash-up of the products that I really love, and some little trick that maybe you guys didn't know about. And ALL of my picks are bright and beautiful, so no "natural" look here! 

(Iphone and camera pictures are shown)

Hope you like it!

MY LIPSTICK PICKS...

(MAC Ruby Woo; Bourjois Fuchsia Cosmopolite; NARS Heat Wave)

1. NARS Heat Wave

This is a perfect orangey-red, and I truly recommend it to warm skinned girls like me!

I am very pale, and quite scared of reds and bright lipsticks, but I think this lipstick just looks AMAZING!

It has a summery feel to it, but you can wear it all year round! (The red tones do their magic!)

2. Bourjois Fuchsia Cosmopolite

This just smells of summer!

This lipstick is pure summer for me, it's a pinkish coral that looks so amazing on tanned skin, that I just can't even..! It may not look too good on my wintery flushed skin (first picture) but you can definitely see those bright pinky undertones.

Oh and, they made it a permanent color of their collection, so I'm really impressed with Bourjois lately, and with their lipstick improvements! I will definitely re-purchase when I run out (although I started it in August and I barely use it because I save it for special occasions!)

3. MAC Ruby Woo

Really wintery lipstick, although you can use it in summer too for a more SOPHISTICATED LOOK, but I'm not usually drawn to those kind of looks during the hot summer months. For winter though, it looks perfect, especially when my skin is at its palest!

MY EYE PICKS... 

(Having SO MANY eyeshadows made me wonder... should I use eyeliner?)

 (Bobbi Brown Gel eyeliner in Violet Ink)

 (Bobbi Brown Gel eyeliner in Ivy Shimmer Ink)

To achieve both of these looks I just dabbed the eyeliner directly from the pot with my fingers, and used a brush to wing it out a little bit and blend it. No extra product on the eyelid was required for this OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD beautiful smokey eye! 

(I used my L'Oreal Voluminous mascara on my top lashes!)

I admit sometimes these can be a little overwhelming for an everyday smokey look, but for a night out?  It's perfect! They are fuss-free, you should put on some eye primer though, just in case it creases on you, though. 

Even so, sometimes, we girls like to take time to do a nice eye, right?

What do you think about these products? Have you got your own lipstick picks? Have you got any tricks to make your eyes pop without having to lose too much time?

Love,

Maria.

MAC Lipstick Series: Ruby Woo

Hello ladies!

I've taken a short hiatus from my blog I'm afraid, but I'm back! Even so, my exam period starts next week, so I may post more randomly than I would like, so please be patient with me :)

But first things first, today I would like to talk about a classic staple lipstick from MAC, RUBY WOO. Hasn't every single girl and woman heard about this beautiful red lipstick? The thing is I purchased this lipstick not long ago because I've never been too sure about bright red lipsticks working on me. And whenever I saw swatches of this lipstick, it sometimes looked more orange and other times it looked really pinkish. 

When I finally decided to go and check it out, I didn't like it under the bright store lights, it just looked to dark on me. So I didn't purchase it at first. But some weeks later I thought to myself: "let's try it at home, plus it's a classic, it can prove to be useful in the future!". So I finally bought it.

I should tell you about my MAC red lipstick history, because I now own FOUR red lipsticks from MAC, which are: Russian Red, Lady Bug, New York Apple (and Ruby Woo). And up until now, I didn't think any of these suited me, except maybe Lady Bug, because it has a Lustre finish so it can be worn slightly sheerer and looks quite fresh (will review on my next post). Still, none of these three (the ones purchased before Ruby Woo) were what I was looking for. 

Let me show you what Ruby Woo (Matte finish) looks like on my skin (warm toned, I have a lot of yellow undertones but I'm quite pale), but take into account that lip swatches contain no lip pencil whatsoever and I've just put on some balm before applying the lipstick, because matte lipsticks can dry my lips and they can look far from perfect. 

Light swatch of Lady Bug (left) and Ruby Woo (right)

You can see the shine that Lady Bug has (especially noticeable on the last two pictures) and how matte Ruby Woo is. We can also see that Ruby Woo is brighter, while Lady Bug is a tad darker and more orangey (you can notice this on the first picture). 

(Lady Bug, left; Ruby Woo, right)

In this overexposed picture we can clearly see the orange undertones in Lady Bug 

and the bluish undertones in Ruby Woo. 

Now, onto the lip swatches! I actually couldn't find my lip pencil and I was DETERMINED to do a decent lip swatch with this lipstick. But I'm afraid I didn't find it (I will keep looking) but I actually didn't need it to get a good application since it's a fairly new lipstick, so it is still sharp.

As you can see, this is a beautiful lipstick color, and it suits my skin quite well. I'm up for bright lipsticks, more than for dark ones, so that's why I really love this lipstick. I also like matte finishes, although I admit this lipstick can be quite drying without any balm underneath (and it still is with a little on, but it doesn't bother me that much).

My conclusion?

I am in love.

Maria.